Brewers pass opportunity to win, lose 1-0 to Reds

WP: Tony Cingrani (2-2) | LP: Tyler Thornburg (3-3)

Box Score

If you want to talk about missed opportunities, today’s game was an excellent example of one.

Zach Davies showed the Brewers today why he should never be demoted again, even if for a short period. In his first game since the All-Star Break, he was in top form. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and striking out five. He faced the minimum in every inning except the first, where he allowed hits to the first two batters but induced three outs to get out of the inning. He only threw 92 pitches, so it’s possible he could have gone longer if his spot hadn’t come up in the eighth inning and the Brewers didn’t need offense.

Unfortunately for Davies, Dan Straily matched him pitch for pitch. He also allowed just four baserunners, giving up three hits and walking one. The Brewers did have their chances to score against him. In the fifth, Ramon Flores hit a double but was left stranded in scoring position. In the sixth, Jonathan Villar walked and then made it to third base on a steal of second and a throwing error, but was left there.

This one ended up turning into a battle of the bullpens. Michael Lorenzen came in for the Reds, and the Brewers did get two baserunners on a walk by Andy Wilkins and single from Scooter Gennett, but Ryan Braun grounded out to end the inning. Tyler Thornburg came in for the Brewers, pitched a 1-2-3 inning and we went to the ninth.

In the top of the ninth, the Reds went with Tony Cingrani, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Brewers off the board. Tyler Thornburg went back out for the ninth and started out with a pop-up and a strikeout, but walked Billy Hamilton to give the Reds a baserunner. Will Smith reliever Thornburg and walked Joey Votto, putting runners on first and second. Hamilton stole third to put the winning run 90 feet away. Then, a pitch from Smith got past Lucroy, and with Billy Hamilton’s speed, there was no chance as the Reds won. It was initially ruled a wild pitch by Smith, but was eventually changed to a passed ball by Lucroy that allowed the winning run.

The Brewers have the day off before opening a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Chase Anderson will make his first post All-Star Break start against Jameson Taillon, who will be returning from the DL. First pitch is at 6:05 pm